Band 8c - Associate Director of Quality Governance and Risk Management

West Herts Hospitals; Watford; Hybrid; GBP 82,000 - 94,000; Full time

Job summary

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust invites applications for the Band 8c Associate Director of Quality Governance and Risk Management. The post leads risk management, governance and assurance frameworks to safeguard patient safety and care across Trust sites.

The role reports to the Director of Governance, provides line management for governance functions, and drives culture of openness, learning and continuous improvement at Board level.

Qualifications

• UK professional registration is required.
• Senior-level governance and risk management experience.
• Ability to lead across the Trust and committees.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational delivery of the Trust's risk management framework.
• Oversee the Corporate Risk Register and risk management systems.
• Provide governance assurance reporting to the Board and Committees.

Job description

Band 8c - Associate Director of Quality Governance and Risk Management

Band 8c

Important: West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including job applications, sponsorship arrangements or employment offers.

Main area Corporate Grade Band 8c Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 360-E-11885

Department name West Herts - General Staffing Site Watford General Hospital Town Watford Salary £81,774 - £93,879 pa inc HCA Salary period Yearly Closing 17/11/2026 23:59

Job overview

We are seeking an exceptional quality governance leader to join West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as Associate Director of Quality Governance and Risk Management. This is a pivotal leadership role responsible for providing operational leadership for the Trust's risk management, governance and assurance frameworks, ensuring that risk management is embedded across all areas of the organisation and supports the delivery of safe, effective and high-quality patient care.

Reporting to the Director of Governance, you will operationally lead Trust-wide risk management, oversee the Corporate Risk Register, and ensure that governance systems can provide robust risk assurance to the Board and its Committees. The role will provide line management for legal services, clinical effectiveness and divisional governance functions for Surgery, Anaesthetics and Cancer and Corporate divisions, while making expert contribution to the wider clinical quality and patient safety agenda.

This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced senior governance leader to shape organisational culture, strengthen risk assurance arrangements and influence strategic decision-making at Board level within a complex NHS organisation.

Main duties of the job

As Associate Director of Quality Governance and Risk Management, you will lead the operational delivery of the Trust's integrated risk management framework, ensuring effective systems are in place for identifying, assessing, mitigating and monitoring both clinical and non-clinical risks. You will provide leadership for corporate and divisional risk management arrangements, ensuring risks are clearly articulated, appropriately escalated and supported by robust controls, assurances and improvement plans.

The role is responsible for providing expert advice to senior leaders, supporting governance maturity across the organisation and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements including Care Quality Commission standards and the NHS Oversight Framework. You will oversee the development of high-quality governance and assurance reporting for Trust committees and the Board, using intelligence from incidents, complaints, claims, audits, patient feedback and risk management systems to support informed decision-making.

While delivering trust wide risk management, the role line manages the head of governance and risk who leads Surgery, Anaesthetics and Cancer and Corporate divisional governance teams. The role also line manages legal services and clinical effectiveness functions. You will promote a culture of openness, learning, accountability and continuous improvement across the Trust.

Working for our organisation

With a new hospital planned for Watford, work underway to update theatres at St Albans City Hospital and plans for a neighbourhood healthcare centre in Hemel Hempstead, this is an exciting time to join us.

We are building on the success of our award-winning virtual hospital and re-imagining models of care, working closely with partners and making the most of advances in digital healthcare.

Staff wellbeing and development are a priority, as is the role of innovation in improving clinical care, outcomes and patient experience.

Our vision is Excellent patient care, together and our values are to be empowered, compassionate, professional and inclusive. They capture an important balance across what we must all do as individuals and to support others.

If you are a Service Leaver, Veteran, Military Reserve, Cadet Force Adult Volunteer, or partner/spouse of those serving please tick "Member of the Armed Forces Community" on the application form.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The successful candidate will provide leadership for governance and risk management across the Trust. They will oversee the Corporate Risk Register and risk management framework, support Board and committee assurance processes, and ensure governance systems effectively support the achievement of strategic objectives.

Working collaboratively with executive, clinical and operational leaders, the postholder will analyse complex information, identify emerging risks and opportunities, develop governance strategies and lead programmes that strengthen organisational risk management capability. They will play a key role in translating national policy and regulatory requirements into practical governance arrangements, while ensuring that learning from incidents, complaints, claims and audits drives sustainable improvement.

The role is primarily based at Watford General Hospital with some travel across Trust sites and external organisations as required. Core working hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm (37.5 hours per week). Flexible working requests will be considered in line with Trust policy and service requirements. Participation in the Trust's on-call arrangements may be required for Band 8c roles.

Person specification

Your application will be scored against the person specification

• 2 - Meets all essential criteria 1 - Partially meets essential criteria 0 - Does not meet essential criteria

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust provides acute healthcare services to a core catchment population of approximately half a million people living in west Hertfordshire and the surrounding area. The Trust also provides a range of more specialist services to a wider population, serving residents of North London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and East Hertfordshire.

As an employer of nearly 6,000 people the Trust is one of the biggest employers in the area and sees nearly a million patients each year.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Emma Peoples Job title PA to Director of Governance Email address [e-mail]

If you have problems applying, contact

Address Watford General Hospital
Vicarage Road
Watford
Hertfordshire
WD18 0HB
Telephone [phone], or 07423032842